However, Zhou Ziwei believed that such a situation would not happen. After all, that guy was a master. He had gone to great lengths to invite Zhou Ziwei over, but the guy had been hiding and refusing to come out. If that guy's pride as a master was gone, then he would lose all his pride and wouldn't be able to survive in the future.
Zhou Ziwei was confident, so he wasn't in a hurry at all. He was just waiting for the moment when the other party couldn't hold back and made the first move.
As dawn drew closer, Zhou Ziwei became increasingly cautious. He figured the enemy was about to make their move. He had released all nine of his insects, which hovered within a radius of several hundred meters. Within that radius, even the slightest tremor of a branch would be impossible to escape Zhou Ziwei's notice.
Finally... the darkest hour before dawn has arrived. After this brief moment, the eastern sky will gradually lighten, and at that time... even the most skilled ninja stealth techniques will become useless. Zhou Ziwei guessed that the enemy's attack should be coming soon...
Just as Zhou Ziwei had expected, at the very moment the twinkling stars in the sky gradually disappeared... Zhou Ziwei clearly "saw" through the sensory system of a small fruit fly that seven or eight black pellets suddenly flew up from a barren patch of grass.
Seven or eight bullets were launched as if by a powerful crossbow, the farthest of which flew more than a hundred meters away, while the closest one simply landed in the grass... However, none of these black bullets were aimed at Zhou Ziwei.
Something's strange!
Startled, Zhou Ziwei immediately reached out and grabbed a few small pebbles from the ground, launching them to shatter the three bullets closest to him...
The sounds of "bang" continued... The three bullets hit by Zhou Ziwei exploded in the air, instantly shooting out thick clouds of red mist, as thick as blood. The bullets that were farther away from Zhou Ziwei also exploded on their own after hitting the ground, similarly releasing thick clouds of red mist in all directions.
The red mist was extremely dark and spread very quickly. What was most strange was that no matter how large the red mist spread, its color remained unchanged, without any sense of dilution.
The red mist released by the seven or eight bullets quickly merged into one, and before Zhou Ziwei could react, the red mist had already enveloped half of the mountain.
Three bullets exploded around Zhou Ziwei in quick succession, causing the red mist around him to form the fastest. In almost an instant, Zhou Ziwei felt as if he were in a blood-red world, surrounded by surging, blood-like mist. A faint, sweet, and metallic scent filled his nostrils, instantly making Zhou Ziwei feel dizzy...
At the same time, four of Zhou Ziwei's nine Kun pets were immediately enveloped in the blood-red mist, while the remaining five, acting on instinct, fled quickly to a distance upon seeing the red mist approaching.
The creatures shrouded in the red mist were three fruit flies and one mosquito. Zhou Ziwei clearly sensed that the three fruit flies, almost without a second's delay, kicked off with all six legs and fell to the ground, their lives extinguished.
As the host body died, the independent souls within the three fruit flies immediately dissipated.
Only the little mosquito seemed to be in its element, like a smoker who had smelled the alluring aroma of opium paste. It began to hover in the red mist, desperately absorbing the toxins and essence within it.
Fuck your mother! You dared to kill my Kunchong, I'll personally kill you.
Zhou Ziwei had experienced many life-and-death situations over the years, but this was the first time he had encountered the death of his Kunchong. He was so angry that his eyes turned red.
There is no doubt that the red mist contains a deadly poison. If one were to be rational, the best course of action would be to immediately retreat and escape the red mist using the fastest movement technique possible.
However, Zhou Ziwei did not do that... Due to a lack of similar experience, Zhou Ziwei inhaled a large mouthful of poisonous gas the moment the red mist was released. Fortunately, although the poisonous gas in the red mist was potent, it did not pose a significant threat to Zhou Ziwei.
Zhou Ziwei could clearly sense that the grass and trees around him, under the corrosive influence of this red mist, all began to wither and turn yellow in less than five seconds, demonstrating just how terrifying the toxicity of this red mist was.
However, apart from some dizziness and sluggishness, Zhou Ziwei didn't seem to have much of a feeling of being poisoned.
Zhou Ziwei felt reassured and didn't rush to escape.
He was only slightly dizzy and his sense of speed was affected. Anyway, he had plenty of trump cards up his sleeve. As long as that mysterious expert showed himself, even without relying on speed and agility, he was confident that he could kill that guy in the first instant.
He estimated that his ability to resist the poisonous fog was mostly related to the five drops of Reincarnation Water he had swallowed.
Given the fact that the Water of Reincarnation has the property of burning almost everything in the world, it is clear that consuming it would not simply make one's body cells stronger and more resilient.
Every cell has been refined by the white flames of this Reincarnation Water. It would be strange if it didn't have some extraordinary properties... Anti-toxicity... This should obviously be one of the additional effects that the Reincarnation Water can provide.
Since the poison in the red mist didn't harm Zhou Ziwei much, he didn't need to rush out. It was just a slight dizziness, which would reduce his strength a little, but the impact was minimal.
Zhou Ziwei was very worried that once he escaped outside the red mist, the guy hiding here would take the opportunity to escape... In that case, wouldn't his three little fruit flies have died for nothing?
So Zhou Ziwei waited in this hazy red mist, hoping that the mysterious expert would come to him...
Zhou Ziwei did not use the soul coverage mode for defense. After all, although the soul coverage was powerful, the speed at which it consumed soul power was also terrifying. It would consume nearly a thousand soul power in just a few seconds.
Zhou Ziwei dared not use this level of energy consumption lightly. Otherwise, if he exhausted his soul power in the next two days, and by the time he reached the Philippine Islands or even found the headquarters of the black market assassin network, he would be without his biggest trump card. How could he then eliminate the greatest threat to him at this stage?
At this moment, Zhou Ziwei still used a considerable amount of soul power. However, this soul power was like countless rays, scanning every part of his body. Although the gaps between them were not small, it was believed that as long as any life form larger than the size of a palm entered within twenty meters of him, it would inevitably trigger his soul power and be exposed. At the same time, three new-style cross darts flew out from Zhou Ziwei's waist. The thin metal wings flapped rapidly and kept rotating around Zhou Ziwei's body.
The little mosquito was also summoned by Zhou Ziwei, hovering above his head, sensing its surroundings intently, while at the same time continuing to greedily inhale the toxins in the mist...
This was the best defensive measure Zhou Ziwei could take under these circumstances. Now he regretted not making a few more new-style cross-shaped darts with independent souls to carry with him.
Although this thing lacks some spirituality, it still has an advantage that ordinary life forms cannot match in this specific situation.
Nearly a minute passed, and the other party still did not react at all. During this minute, Zhou Ziwei had exhausted all his soul power.
Although he only released his soul power in the form of rays to minimize consumption, even the most economical approach couldn't withstand the long duration... On the contrary, after a minute of adaptation, Zhou Ziwei's dizziness gradually subsided to an almost imperceptible level, and his sensitivity also steadily increased.
It seems that the body-reforming properties of the Reincarnation Water are even more powerful than Zhou Ziwei expected. He estimates that as long as he stays in this red mist for a few more minutes, his body will be able to fully adapt, and then the same level of toxicity will probably no longer be able to harm him.
His agility and speed might even be enhanced to some extent by being tempered by this red mist...
Immersing his body in the red mist seemed to offer some benefits, but the consumption of his soul power was simply too much for him. Left with no other choice, Zhou Ziwei had to prepare to take the initiative.
However, he was too conspicuous. If he wandered around aimlessly in the red mist, he would easily become the target of the mysterious master hiding in the shadows.
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei planned to send Little Mosquito out to search. When the mysterious expert threw the black bullet earlier, he had already revealed the general location of his hiding place. Even if that guy moved to a different location afterward, he probably wouldn't have gone too far. As long as Little Mosquito followed that direction, he might be able to find the person's trace.
Once Zhou Ziwei can find the location of that mysterious master, he can launch a deadly attack on him without restraint...
However, just as the little mosquito received the order and flew only a few meters away, the two soul power sensing lines behind Zhou Ziwei suddenly touched a rolling dead tree.
Under the scan of the soul power, it was indeed a somewhat rotten dead tree. The dead tree was only a little over a meter long and no more than two turns thick. It was a solid dead tree no matter how you looked at it.
The problem is... when Zhou Ziwei's soul power touched the piece of dead wood, it was immediately repelled. His soul power was unable to penetrate into the inside of the dead wood at all.
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei immediately concluded that... this thing that looked like a dead tree was actually something with life and a soul.
"Go—" Zhou Ziwei's heart tightened, and he immediately shouted, causing the three new-style cross-shaped darts hovering around him to shoot out from three directions toward the seemingly ordinary dead tree.
This new type of cross dart has been tempered daily by Zhou Ziwei using soul power infused with electrical energy properties. In addition, since it is powered by electrical energy itself, its speed is increasing. Although it cannot yet reach the monstrous speed of ladybugs and fruit flies, it is almost the same in short-distance sprints.
Almost in the blink of an eye, three new-style cross darts shot out like lightning from within twenty meters of Zhou Ziwei, having rolled from the dead log into the area around him.
Suddenly, the piece of dead wood changed from rolling horizontally to standing upright, managing to dodge two of the new-style darts in a split second. However, the third dart still grazed a corner of the dead wood, and with a "thud," it tore off a piece of dry bark.
As soon as the piece of bark flew up, a stream of sticky red blood immediately spurted from the dead wood.
A muffled groan was faintly heard, but before the three new-style cross darts could circle around and attack the dead tree again, a burst of blood mist spewed out from the dead tree once more. Then, as if attracted by this burst of blood mist, the surrounding red mist suddenly surged wildly towards the dead tree as if in a riot.
In an instant, the red mist surrounding the dead tree thickened countless times, as if it had transformed into a clump of gelatinous substance.
The three new-style darts were able to fly by vibrating in the air using thin metal wings. Now, the air suddenly turned into glue, and the three new-style darts became stuck. Although they had not yet fallen to the ground, they suddenly became unable to move at all in the air, and their lightning speed turned into a tortoise crawl.
At the same time, the dead tree suddenly split open from top to bottom with a "poof," and then, like a fountain, it sprayed out bursts of fine red light.
These red rays were shot into the air, but once they reached high altitudes, they instantly turned into a fine drizzle, falling indiscriminately in a radius of tens of meters.
The hair-like red rays moved as fast as beams of light, falling from the sky in the blink of an eye and completely enveloping Zhou Ziwei.
Zhou Ziwei was terrified when he saw this. Under normal circumstances, he could have escaped from the red light in the blink of an eye with just a thought.
However, not only is his body now greatly reduced in terms of perception and speed due to the erosion of the red mist, but the blood mist sprayed out by the dead tree has also made the surrounding red mist much thicker. Although he is still relatively far from the dead tree and not as unable to move as the three new cross darts, it will still reduce his speed by several times. Under these circumstances, it is almost impossible to escape the red light.
Although Zhou Ziwei's body had become extremely resilient and impervious to swords and blades after being tempered by five drops of the Reincarnation Water, he was facing no ordinary expert. Although this mysterious expert had unleashed thousands upon thousands of red rays in one breath, each ray of red light contained very limited power. However, these were no ordinary hidden weapons. Judging from the ray's tiny size, it was undoubtedly extremely sharp. Even with limited force, it could easily pierce his body. Moreover, this guy was clearly an expert in poisons. Zhou Ziwei would never believe that these red rays were not poisonous.
Therefore, no matter what, Zhou Ziwei dared not use his body to withstand the thin red light.
Left with no other choice, Zhou Ziwei, who always adhered to the principles of thrift and diligence, had to indulge in a little extravagance. With a roar, he unleashed his soul power as if it were free, instantly covering an area of five meters around him and forming a small soul shield...
At the same time, Zhou Ziwei's hands flew rapidly above his head like butterflies flitting among flowers, creating layer upon layer of magical force fields.
He knew that because those red rays were so small, the force attached to each one was extremely limited, so the influence of the force field would also be minimal. The core concept of his force field, which incorporated the essence of Niu-style Tai Chi, was simply to use the opponent's force against them.
Under the influence of this force field, the greater the external force, the stronger the effect. If a string of throwing knives were to pierce into the force field, he could easily reverse the direction of its force. But if it were just a light rain, how much of an effect would his force field have? Therefore, he must maximize the strength of this force field as much as possible.
Because his body was corroded by the toxins in the red mist, Zhou Ziwei, despite being bathed in the soul's coverage, could not reach the speed of his normal full-speed execution. Therefore, he could only try his best to improve the accuracy of the force field.
To make the force fields merge together as much as possible.
Human potential is indeed limitless, and it is only in life-or-death situations that human potential is most easily unleashed.
This is why soldiers who have been through blood and fire are always more lethal than soldiers in peacetime.
When Zhou Ziwei first released his soul coverage, his heart was burning with anxiety. But as he laid down his force fields one after another, his mind gradually sank into a strange state. In this state, he even forgot where he was and that he was fighting to the death with an unprecedentedly powerful expert.
His mind was calmer than ever before. The essence of Niu-style Tai Chi Chuan was displayed before him like a clear picture. He didn't need to think about it. With just a tap and a tremor of his hand, a force field containing the essence of the fist naturally formed under his hand.
And he always manages to pinpoint the most precise point of convergence between force fields, as if he were creating a beautiful work of art, connecting one newly formed force field after another, until they finally merged into a perfect force field canopy...
Volume 2 The Assassin's Nightmare Chapter 277 A Life-or-Death Struggle
This is definitely no longer an ordinary force field; it has even transcended the concept of an ordinary force field and formed something entirely new. If an ordinary force field is just a point, then this one, composed of countless force fields, is a surface, or even... a space.
Using the concept of space to describe the newly formed force field under Zhou Ziwei's command would be more accurate, because this force field is no longer limited to a fixed plane. Through the combination of countless force fields, it has reached a very mysterious level. It seems to have become a tangible substance with its own length, width, and height.
The most amazing thing is... it's not fixed. Zhou Ziwei has a feeling that this newly formed force field combination can actually move according to his will...
Zhou Ziwei didn't have time to experiment with whether this spatial force field was as magical as he had imagined. As soon as it was formed, countless red rays of light fell from the sky.
Those were beams of energy, thinner than raindrops, each one as light as a feather. Whether his force field could withstand the impact of these red beams was truly an unknown.
At least until it was verified, Zhou Ziwei had absolutely no idea what to expect.
It pierced down... Zhou Ziwei didn't need to use his eyes to see; that force field space was as if it were part of his body, and everything was completely within his perception.
He could clearly feel countless light, weightless threads piercing into the force field he had created in a strange way, like a steel needle piercing into cream.
Although there may be some stagnation, it will never stop.
The energy reversal capability of the force field space seems to have no effect on these almost weightless little things.
Zhou Ziwei felt a chill in his heart. Just as he was about to think of another way to resist the deadly fine rain, he suddenly discovered that when the red rays were not fully inside the force field space, they were indeed as if they were not affected at all. However, once the entire ray was fully immersed in the force field space, it was as if it had been assimilated by magnetism. They all appeared in Zhou Ziwei's consciousness at once. Zhou Ziwei actually had the feeling that he could control these red rays at will.
stop--
Zhou Ziwei immediately gave the command he most desired to react to the thin red rays that had entered his force field space in his mind, and a spectacular scene suddenly appeared...
Within a radius of tens of meters, countless thin red rays fell from the sky like raindrops, moving at a speed as fast as shooting stars. In the blink of an eye, countless red rays landed on the ground, disappearing into the soil, rocks, and trees. The rocks and trees, after being exposed to the red rays, immediately and eerily turned blood red. Red bubbles continuously rose from the surface of the trees, and each time a red bubble burst, a large piece of wood vanished. The rocks that had been drenched in the red rays turned completely crimson and melted away at a visible speed, like a bar of soap thrown into water…
Only the red rays that fell to the ground, whether because the earth's vast and boundless embrace prevented them from manifesting, or because they had already burrowed deep into the soil, showed no signs of abnormality on the surface.
Wherever there was grass on the ground, it instantly turned into red bubbles, merging into a vast expanse of red mist...
However, right above Zhou Ziwei's head was a strange light shield. As soon as the red rays pierced into it, they immediately floated and became completely still, forming a strange red cloud-like object in the blink of an eye.
As Zhou Ziwei took a step forward, the red cloud would drift forward as well, almost like an umbrella over his head.
Carefully sensing his surroundings with his soul power, Zhou Ziwei gasped in horror when he sensed the terrifying sight of those red rays falling onto the wood and stone.
Sure enough... he knew those red rays were definitely not good, but he never imagined they could be this vicious. If they had actually landed on him, the consequences would have been unimaginable...
Zhou Ziwei harbored resentment in his heart. With a thought, the red cloud above his head instantly transformed into a hurricane, which reversed its direction with a "whoosh" and blew all of it towards the piece of dead wood.
However, although the red rays were extremely vicious, they were ultimately emitted from that piece of dead wood, so they naturally did not pose much of a threat to the dead wood. In the instant the red hurricane passed by, the cracks on the dead wood widened further, resembling a gaping maw, and generated a powerful suction force, instantly swallowing up all the red rays...
However, this situation was already within Zhou Ziwei's expectations. Of course, he did not expect to actually kill the other party with the enemy's weapon. So, right after that red hurricane, a small, jet-black sphere was suddenly launched at an even faster speed towards the piece of dead wood.